Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Assault (Including Battery) |
Sentence: |
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Years Imprisoned: |
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Year Crime: |
2014 |
Year Convicted: |
2015 |
Year Cleared: |
2016 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Australia |
County or Region of Crime: |
South Australia |
City of Crime: |
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Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Mr. Gray was wrongly convicted in 2015 of one count of aggravated assault upon his 12 year old son for smacking him on the thigh for misbehaving on March 10, 2014 in Australia's state of South Australia. Gray's defense was that his son was misbehaving and his son wasn't injurded by the smack that only left some redness, but no bruising. After his conviction by a magistrate, Gray was given no sentence. Gray appealed. On March 21, 2016 the South Australia Supreme Court reversed Grays's conviction on the basis the evidence didn't support that he committed a crime. The Court's ruling stated: "Having performed that independent review of the evidence, I consider that, in all of the present circumstances, it was established on the evidence that the actions of appellant were bona fide for the purpose of parental correction and that his conduct was not unreasonable. I come to this positive conclusion quite irrespective of any question of onus of proof. Accordingly, by reference to ground 1 of appeal, I find the appellant not guilty of the charge. I order that the Information be dismissed without an order for a retrial." (Police v. Gray [2016] SASC 39 (21 March 2016))" |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On March 21, 2016 the South Australia Supreme Court reversed Grays's conviction on the basis the evidence didn't support that he committed a crime. The Court's ruling stated: "Having performed that independent review of the evidence, I consider that, in all of the present circumstances, it was established on the evidence that the actions of appellant were bona fide for the purpose of parental correction and that his conduct was not unreasonable. I come to this positive conclusion quite irrespective of any question of onus of proof. Accordingly, by reference to ground 1 of appeal, I find the appellant not guilty of the charge. I order that the Information be dismissed without an order for a retrial." (Police v. Gray [2016] SASC 39 (21 March 2016))" |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
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Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
Male |
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Information Source 1: |
"Police v. Gray [2016] SASC 39 (21 March 2016) (Reversing conviction on the basis Gray was exercising reasonable parental control when he "smacked" his son on the thigh.)" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/sa/SASC/2016/39.html |
Information Source 2: |
"Smacking your children is NOT a crime: Father who slapped his son has conviction overturned - with the judge saying discipline doesn't turn a parent into a 'criminal', By Freya Noble (for Daily Mail, Australia), The Daily Mail (London, UK), March 21, 2016" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3503280/Adelaide-father-pilot-smacked-son-agrravated-assault-conviction-overturned.html |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org